Tag Archives: Avengers

#0975: Scarlet Witch

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

SCARLET WITCH

AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES (TOY BIZ)

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I’ve been tackling a lot of characters’ first action figures as of late. Oddly enough, it’s not really been an intentional choice, just sort of something that’s cropped up. Today, I’ll be looking at the first figure of one of the quintessential Avengers, the Scarlet Witch. Though she’s been with the team since the mid-60s, and was also a recurring character in the ‘90s Iron Man cartoon (she was actually the only member of Force Works not to get a figure from that show’s tie-in line), Scarlet Witch’s first figure wouldn’t be released until 1996, when the Avengers got their own dedicated series of figures.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ScarletWitchAR2Scarlet Witch was released in the first (and only) series of Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, a line which was designed to roughly tie-in with the Heroes Return event. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches tall and she has 7 points of articulation. The articulation isn’t particularly useful, sadly. You can get a bit of decent posing out of the shoulders, but even then, the arms have a tendency to pop off if you move them too much. Also, did you catch that height? Yeah, at 5 ½ inches, this figure is 6-inch scale. While that’s a prevalent scale now, at the time of her release, it made her too tall to go with couple hundred 5-inch scale Marvel figures that Toy Biz had put out. The first Scarlet Witch figure ever made, and she was out of scale with just about every one of her teammates. That’s a bit frustrating. On the plus side, the sculpt actually isn’t horrid, especially when compared to Toy Biz’s next attempt. The head is probably the best part. The hair a little thick and hard to work with, but the face is still probably the most attractive take on the character in sculpted form. The rest of the body isn’t bad, but some of the proportions seem a little out of whack. Her waist is definitely too small, but her whole torso in general feels a bit tiny when compared to the arms.  To be fair, the slightly oversized nature of the arms is preferable to the stick arms many female figures are saddled with. I do wish they were a bit less tubular, but the gloves and hands are certainly nicely detailed. Originally, this figure also had a cloth cape, which my figure no longer has. It wasn’t anything especially impressive, though. The paintwork on this figure is pretty straightforward, but also pretty good overall. My only real complaint is the nose: like McFarlane’s Carol from Walking Dead, Wanda has painted nostrils, and she would definitely look much better if they had been left unpainted. Wanda was packed with two “magic orbs” and a hex bolt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Scarlet Witch is yet another figure from the 15 figures I picked up at this year’s Balticon. Despite how much I liked the character, I never got one of these when it was new (I had actually been holding out for the United They Stand version, which didn’t even make it to the prototype stage…). While this isn’t a perfect figure, it’s certainly better than the one that followed, and it was the best Scarlet Witch figure available for over a decade. Which is honestly kinda sad, but there it is.

#0957: Kang

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

KANG

MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS (MATTEL)

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Yesterday, I said that Doctor Doom was the greatest comicbook villain of all time. But, what about the second greatest comicbook villain? If I’m honest, I’d probably go with the focus of today’s review, Kang the Conqueror. Now, I’m sure at least some of my readers aren’t super familiar with Kang. Kang’s an old-school Avengers villain. He’s a guy from the future, who went all the way back to ancient Egypt, then decided to come to the present, and then eventually went back to the future, so that he could then come back to the present. It’s a little complicated. In his past he was both Rama Tut and Iron Lad, and in the future he becomes Immortus (another Avengers villain). The point is, he’s a lot of fun. He’s managed to get a surprising number of action figures over the years, but today I’ll be looking at his very first.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

KangSW2Kang is another figure from the first series of Mattel’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars line. He’s kind of an odd choice, truth be told. He’s not one of Marvel’s better known villains, and plays a very minor role in the tie-in comics. Still,I’m hardly going to complain about getting a Kang figure! He stands 4 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Kang was built on the basic body for the line, with the arms from Iron Man (and Doctor Doom) and a unique head. The head is goofy, but not a terrible translation of his design from the comics. It’s not quite as good as some of the later Kang figures, but it doesn’t totally suck. It’s a little flat. The Iron Man arms are actually a pretty good fit, though Kang is usually depicted in a loose-fitting shirt in the comics. Kang also has an add-on piece for his belt/suspender thing, which works pretty decently for what it’s supposed to be. Kang’s paintwork isn’t super exciting. I mean, it’s accurate to his design, more or less, but it doesn’t do a whole lot to make it very exciting. The purple and green are both very dark and sort of run together. Also, the face is just straight light blue, with no variation, which looks kind of lazy. Kang included a blaster and yet another goofy lenticular shield.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Kang at the same time as Doom (and, by extension, Bane), from a dealer at Balticon. My Dad actually bought a Kang about 15 years ago at a flea market, and I’ve sort of wanted my own ever since, though not enough to do any serious searching. But, for $2, he was definitely worth picking up. There have been better Kangs since this one, but this one’s still not bad!

#0929: Falcon & War Machine

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

FALCON & WAR MACHINE

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR MINIVERSE

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So, Civil War was awesome. Just so everyone knows. And the movie being awesome has had the added effect of making me enjoy those toys I picked up before the movie even more. One of my favorite recent additions to the MCU is the Falcon, who has been criminally absent from the toy world. Fortunately, he’s gotten a few different figures from the first round of Civil War products. For the smaller scale line, he’s packed with Iron Man’s best pal James Rhodes (better known as War Machine), who’s been no stranger to toys.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two are another set from the first series of the Captain America: Civil War Miniverse line. They’re probably one of the most sensible pairings so far, since these two serve as parallels thematically for a lot of the movie.

FALCON

WMFalcon3Falcon is suitably kick ass in this movie, so I’m glad he’s got a figure already. This marks the first time he’s been released in this scale, since he was one of the few characters from AoU not to get a figure from the smaller scale line. The figure is 2 ¾ inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation (thanks to his moving wings). He’s wearing his more streamlined gear from Civil War, which is definitely my favorite look of his so far. His sculpt is quite nicely handled; he translates the design to the smaller scale very nicely, and he’s got lots of great detailing. Like some of the others in the series, he’s sculpted mid-step, which is a little odd, but actually works out well for Falcon, as it helps to offset the weight of his wings. His wings are separate pieces; they’re pretty nicely sculpted, but they do have a tendency to pop out of place from time to time. The paintwork on Falcon is decent, but like a lot of the other figures, he’s missing more than a few details. Of course, Falcon’s additional details aren’t quite as essential as, say, Captain America’s, so he’s far less negatively impacted. Falcon is the figure in this pair who gets the weird armor thingy. Falcon’s is, if I’m honest, my favorite of these weird, absurd things that I’ve gotten so far, because it actually does feel like an extension of Falcon’s normal gear. It’s still weird and all, especially with the shoulder guns that point two different directions, but noticeably less weird than the others.

WAR MACHINE

WMFalcon2War Machine was one of the characters to get a smaller scale figure from AoU (he was one of the very first characters to get one, in fact), so this marks the second time he’s gotten a figure this size. Though Rhodey had the same basic armor (albeit in different colors) for Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron, Civil War has given him a much bulkier design, more in line with what he had in Iron Man 2. His sculpt does a rather nice job capturing this new look, as well as balancing the overall proportions. He’s also satisfyingly hefty, which is definitely appropriate. In general, this is one of the better sculpts from the line. Perhaps the only disappointing part is that the shoulder cannon doesn’t move, due to it having a rectangular peg. His paint work is decently handled. Technically, he’s still missing some silver detailing, but, like Falcon, it’s not terribly noticeable. War Machine has no accessories, not even the baton he was shown with in so much of the promotional material.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This pair was picked up at the same time as Cap & Crossbones and Panther & Hawkeye. I think they might just be my favorite of those three sets (though Vision & Winter Soldier are still at the top). Neither figure has any major issues, which is a big plus. And, since I have yet to pick up Iron Man & Widow, this is my last Civil War review for the time being.

#0920: Whirlwind

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

WHIRLWIND – FORCES OF EVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

Whirlwind1

The Marvel universe has a lot of pretty amazing super villains, but for me, the best sub-set of villains they have are the laughably terrible ones. The ones that keep showing up, getting their butts kicked, and generally being ineffective. The likes of Shocker, Stiltman, Batroc the Leaper, and even today’s focus character Whirlwind. He initially started his career as the Human Top, which isn’t as cool a name as Whirlwind, but is probably more fitting for the character. There’s actually one thing that sets Whirlwind apart from the other lame villains: he’s actually the got an arch-nemesis. Yep, ol’ spinhead here is the arch enemy of the Wasp (also her chauffeur, but that’s a whole other story). I mean, he still kinda sucks, but that’s part of the charm. Amazingly enough, Whirlwind has a whole three action figures in his tenure as a villain, the latest of which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Whirlwind2Whirlwind is another figure from the third series of Captain America Marvel Legends(why he’s in a Captain America-themed series instead of getting a slot in last year’s Ant-Man Marvel Legends is anyone’s guess. Maybe Wasp finally got that restraining order). He’s been dubbed “Forces of Evil,” which is a name he shares with the Serpent Society’s Cottonmouth. The figure stands about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Whirlwind is presented in his classic costume, after he’d added the chainmail (before that he’d just been shirtless, which was weird). He uses the slightly larger male body, introduced with Grim Reaper. To aid in making him more “Whirlwind-y” he has a new head, torso, and forearms. The head is actually two pieces: face and helmet. This results in a figure with the proper level of depth to his eye and mouth slits, which looks pretty neat. The actual helmet does a very nice job of capturing Whirlwind’s comic look. The torso also does a decent job of handling Whirlwind’s weird chest armor, and the forearms feature actual spinning blades, which is a nice touch. It’s a bit of a shame that he doesn’t have any chainmail detailing, but that would have meant giving him a 100% new sculpt, which seems like a bit much to ask for whirlwind3Whirlwind. Whirlwind’s paintwork isn’t particularly complex, but what’s there is fairly clean. I especially like how well the eyes turned out. Also, the choice of a metallic finish takes what could have been a slightly bland figure and gives him some pop. Whirlwind’s only accessory is his Build-A-Figure piece, which is the left arm of Red Onslaught.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

On my search for the other three figures I wanted from this series, I saw quite a few Whirlwinds, and passed several times. It’s not that I don’t like the character, nor is it that I wasn’t excited for the figure, I guess I was just prioritizing the others. After finding the other three, I broke down and got Whirlwind. I’m glad I did. He’s a very well-put-together figure. He sticks to the established formula of a few new parts on a base body, but he’s the sort of character that really lends himself to such a concept.

#0906: Mockingbird

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

MOCKINGBIRD – AGENTS OF SHIELD

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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How many comic book characters can say that the only lasting effect of a mega-crossover event was bringing them back from the dead? Well, a lot, actually, given that death’s a revolving door in comics. That said, it’s usually big name characters who get brought back, and as much as I like Mockingbird, I can’t say that she’s particularly big name. After dying in the early 90s in order to make Hawkeye more “edgy” (because that’s a thing we needed), Bobbi Morse was returned to life at the end of Secret Invasion, after it was revealed that the Bobbi what died was actually a Skrull impersonator. Bringing her back was far from the main purpose of the event, but it was a nice benefit, and, as I said, one of the few things to actually stick after the story wrapped. Bobbi’s found her way into the spotlight as of late, getting her own comic, serving as a supporting character in Spider-Man’s main series, and even serving as a fan-favorite character on Agents of SHIELD (and she was even popular enough to get a spin-off. Go her!). Through all of that, she’s only managed to get two action figures, the latest of which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mockingbird2Mockingbird is part of the third series of the Captain America Marvel Legends line (counting the two released for Winter Soldier). Her official title is “Agents of SHIELD,” a name she shares with Agent Sharon Carter. For once, the shared name is 100% appropriate for both characters using it, and not super generic like some of the others. Bobbi began her career as the SHIELD agent assigned to Kazar in the Savage Land, and has intermittently worked for SHIELD since then. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation. She’s based on Mockingbird’s costume immediately following her return in Secret Invasion. It’s not a bad costume design, and it’s one she wore up until fairly recently, so it’s pretty relevant. I personally still prefer her classic design to this one, but this is still a nice design, and it does a good job of balancing the distinctive elements of her classic design with the more superspy nature of the modern incarnation of the character. Plus, it means she fits with the Heroic Age version of Hawkeye released last year! Bobbi appears to be an all-new sculpt. That’s pretty awesome for a character of her stature. Her proportions are all nice and balanced, and the costume specific details are nice and sharp, and a pretty spot-on match for what she looks like in the comics. Her goggles are removable; her hair sculpt has a spot on each side for them to slot into. When removed, you can clearly see where they were, but it’s not super distracting. On the plus side, when in place, they don’t look oversized at all, and they stay where they’re supposed to. Bobbi’s paintwork is a little on the sloppy side. Most of it looks okay, and the change from white to black is nowhere near as bad as it could have been, and the face is actually really clean. However, the area around the collar is really sloppy. On the plus side, a lot of it’s hidden by her hair. Mockingbird includes her battle staves, which are just a re-painted billy-club from Daredevil (though the quality of the plastic is much better this time around). She also comes with the torso of this series’ Build-A-Figure, Red Onslaught.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mockingbird has been one of my favorite Marvel characters for a while, and I’ve always been kind of bummed by the lack of action figures. Her last figure was okay, but not super exciting, so I was happy when she was one of the first three figures announced for this series of Legends. I ended up picking this figure up from Cosmic Comix. She’s not my preferred version of the character, but she’s still a really good version of the character, and a pretty awesome figure to boot!

Mockingbird3

#0871: Captain Marvel & New Thor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

CAPTAIN MARVEL & NEW THOR

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Change is kind of a constant thing in comics. However, as quickly as things change, they’ll just as quickly revert right back, because status quo trumps just about everything. Seriously, for all the times a popular character has been replaced by another iteration, you can probably keep count of the ones that actually stuck on one hand. So, today, let’s look at two new(ish) incarnations of classic Marvel characters, Captain Marvel and Thor. One of them’s likely to be one of the few changes that sticks, while the other’s probably only got until Chris Hemsworth’s Thor graces the big screen next year.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain Marvel and Thor are part of Series 64 of the main Marvel Minimates line. This is one of the two sets only available in the specialty assortment of figures. While Carol and the new Thor don’t have a ton of history together, they are both Avengers, so the pairing certainly makes more sense than Howard and Dazzler. Plus, how often do you get two female characters in one set? That’s pretty cool.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

ThorCapMarvel2Captain Marvel is a title that Marvel has passed around a lot over the years, mostly because none of the characters really hit it big and Marvel was reeeally determined not to let the name lapse. Carol Danvers spent a large portion of her career as Ms. Marvel, and after managing to hold her own series under that title, Marvel finally realized that easiest way to keep the Captain Marvel name going would be to give Carol a much deserved promotion. She’s actually been Captain Marvel for a while now, so it seems like this one’s gonna stick. Carol’s had pretty much the same look during her entire tenure as the Captain, so that’s the look here. The figure is the standard 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. She uses the basic body, with add-on pieces for the hair and sash. Both pieces are new to this figure and they do a pretty good job of capturing her in-comic look. The hair’s peg is a little long, so it sits just a bit high, but other than that, it looks okay. The paint on Captain Marvel is pretty decent overall. The only real issue is that the dark blue is the base color, so the red and gold are just a touch murky in a few spots. Other than that, the colors look pretty smooth, and everything’s nice and clean. For accessories, the good Captain includes her helmet (which she only seems to wear very occasionally), as well as a flight stand and a standard clear display stand.

NEW THOR

ThorCapMarvel3New Thor seems like an odd idea. While the concept of someone else wielding Mjolnir certainly isn’t new, and New Thor hit right in the midst of change-ups to other popular characters, it was weird to see another person called “Thor” since it’s not a title, it’s his actual name. However, the character seems to have been pretty well-executed, and I’ve especially loved her in Mark Waid’s run on Avengers. While she’s sure to be a temporary replacement, she’s certainly a fun take on the character. Thor makes use of four add-ons for her helmet/hair, cape, gauntlet, and belt/skirt. The cape is re-used from the MvC Thor (which is certainly appropriate), but the rest of her add-ons are new. The helmet is a pretty awesome piece, with some really cool detailing, and the skirt and gauntlet are pretty cool too. Thor’s paint is nice and sharp, and has some nice, bold work. Under the mask is a nice depiction of Jane Foster’s sickly appearance, with a nice, stern look to it. Thor is a bit light on the accessories, but she has what’s important: her hammer Mjolnir and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I wasn’t quite as excited for this set as I was Dazzler and Howard, I do really like both of the character designs included. Captain Marvel is a long time coming, and she turned out very nicely. Definitely worth the wait. And Thor is a solid ‘mate of a pretty cool design, and a very good choice for this set.

#0856: Black Panther

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BLACK PANTHER

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

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Poor Black Panther. He should be a really prominent character, but he always feels like he gets the short end of the stick. He has trouble keeping an ongoing comic (often due to poor creative direction), he’s mostly relegated to guest star roles in all the various Marvel cartoons (barring the truly awesome Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes), and he didn’t even get an action figure until the early 00s (and even then, it was only in the-10 inch line. It would take a little while longer before he got a normal 5-inch figure, just as the scale was starting to go away). Fortunately, it looks like his luck should be changing with the release of Civil War, as well as his solo film in 2018. Why not look at one of his action figures?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BPantherMU2Black Panther was part of the first series of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line. He’s based on the Panther’s classic look, from his time with the Avengers in the late 60s. The figure stands roughly 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. Panther is built on Hasbro’s first attempt at a mid-sized male body. It was only used for him and two variants of the Punisher. The reason it didn’t see any further use is quite simple: it’s not very good. Sure, parts of it look pretty decent, but the overall assembly looks very awkward. The upper arms in particular are about as tall as they are wide, which just looks odd. In addition, the articulation scheme is weird and makes the figure pretty stiff. You won’t be getting much more than a basic standing pose out of this guy, which just isn’t right when you’re talking about Black Panther, a dude who does his fair share of crouching! The head, lower arms and lower legs are all unique to this guy. I like the head a lot, and it’s definitely the best part of the figure. The arms and legs do at least put some effort into detailing Panther’s striped gloves and boots, but they suffer from the same odd proportions as the rest of the body. The left hand is bigger than his face! Panther has paint for his eyes and… that’s it. Just the eyes. The rest is straight black plastic, which makes him a bit flat looking. Some highlights, or even painting the gloves blue, as they were often showed in the comics, would have done a lot to help this figure, but alas, no such luck. Black Panther was packed with a staff with a blade on it, which Wikipedia tells me is a naginata. It never struck me as particularly in keeping with Panther’s aesthetic, so I lost it at some point.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always liked Black Panther (I chalk it up to his Keith David-voiced appearance on the 90s Fantastic Four cartoon). So much so that when I was 7, I made one of my Batman Forever Batmen into a custom Panther using some black tape. When Hasbro showed him as one of the first MU figures, I was pretty excited to see him there, and he was one of my first purchases from the line. Unfortunately, he got saddled with the worst of the initial bodies, which held him back. He’s not a terrible looking figure, but he’s not super fun either, which is disappointing. On the plus side, Hasbro just re-released him in their Avengers Infinite line, using the later mid-sized body (used on Falcon), so the character wasn’t totally forgotten.

#0850: Falcon

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

FALCON

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

FalconMU1

Falcon is certainly a character who has picked up some serious notoriety in the last few years, and I gotta say, that makes me pretty darn happy. See, I’ve been a Falcon fan since Avengers: United They Stand (a cartoon that no one in their right mind would admit to liking. I kinda liked it…) and I’ve always found the guy pretty awesome. He’s actually been pretty fortunate in regards to figures, getting a figure in just about every major scale over the years, including Hasbro’s favorite, 3 ¾ inch, where he actually got TWO figures! I’ll be looking at the first of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FalconMU2Falcon was released in the 14th series of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line, where he is listed as figure 013. The figure is roughly 4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation. The design of the figure is clearly based on one of his more recent costumes, but it’s not either of the modern costumes I’m familiar with. It’s actually a nice medium between the classic costume and the costume he was wearing just prior to becoming Captain America. Falcon is built on the medium-sized male body, first introduced with Guardian. It was definitely an improvement to some of the earlier base bodies, and aside from arms that can’t quite sit flush with the body, it’s actually a fairly nice sculpt. He gets a new head and forearms, as well as slightly tweaked upper arms, to allow for the wings. The new pieces are pretty decent overall; the head is a little bland, expression-wise, but it’s not bad, and the forearms sport some pretty nice detailing. His actual wings are separate pieces, and they work okay,but they aren’t as well done as prior Falcon figures. They’re only one piece, and they’re really only designed for him to have his arms above his head at like a 45 degree angle. Any other pose and they look incredibly awkward. Falcon’s paintwork is actually really nice. The base colors are well-chosen, and there’s some great accent work on the whites and reds, which helps prevent him from looking too boring. The figure is packed with his trusty sidekick Redwing and a display stand with his name on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Falcon’s actually responsible for me having as many Marvel Universe figures as I do. I had a few figures, probably less than 10, when I found this guy at Target. It just so happened that they were having a Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Price special at the time, which led to me steadily picking up a whole bunch of what was currently in stock, and eventually led to me trying to get a complete line-up of every Avenger in this scale. And it’s all because of this guy.

#0761: Ultron, Vision, & Hulk

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

ULTRON, VISION, & HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

UltVision&Hulk1

Last year, Hasbro partnered up with Target during the holiday season in order to offer a few exclusive items from a number of their lines. Among the lines included was Marvel Legends Infinite Series, which got a special three pack of figures, which included Captain America, Ms. Marvel, and Radioactive Man. It would seem Hasbro is looking to make this something of an annual thing, as another three pack was just released. Included this time around were Ultron, Vision, and the Hulk, all of whom received a nice popularity boost courtesy of Age of Ultron.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These three are, as noted above, part of a Target exclusive set, arriving just in time for the holiday season.

ULTRON

UltVision&Hulk4Ultron’s had quite a few figures this year, but this is actually only the second Marvel Legend. This one gives us another shot at the comics design. Specifically, he seems to draw inspiration from Ultron’s comics appearances from the last several years, though he certainly amalgamates a few different designs. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. Part of why Ultron amalgamates a few designs is due to some necessary parts re-use. Ultron makes use of the body of last year’s Ultimate Beetle figure, along with a new set of forearms/hands, as well as yet another all-new Ultron head. Beetle’s body’s actually not a bad fit for Ultron, and it was pretty good sculpt to begin with, so it’s re-use is definitely a reasonable one. The new forearms and hands meld nicely with the rest of the body, and definitely work better for the character than the original Beetle hands would. The new head is definitely the star attraction here. It’s a fantastic sculpt, with lots of really sharp line work and some great symmetry, and it really captures the character well. Ultron’s mostly just molded in a dark silver plastic, which looks pretty decent, but he’s got a fair amount of red detailing throughout. In particular, I really like how the mouth has been handled; they managed to get that whole crackling energy thing down just right!

VISION

UltVision&Hulk2He’s had no new Marvel Legends for like 7 years (being dead can do that sort of thing to you) but Vision’s managed to get two whole new Marvel Legends figures. His first one hit just a few months ago, and was based on one of the character’s more recent designs. This figure opts for a slightly more oldschool look, offering Vision’s second design ever, from John Byrne’s run on West Coast Avengers. I respect Byrne a lot, but the less said about that run and why the Vision was suddenly mono-chromatic, the better. Regardless of the questionable rationale behind the why of the design, it’s actually not a bad look, and it’s certainly different enough to warrant a figure. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. He is, more or less, a repaint of the last Vision figure. He’s built on Hasbro’s favorite body, the Bucky Cap, and uses the same head as the previous Vision. Unfortunately, he’s back to the two-fisted look, which is a shame, since the outstretched hand of the last one (and this one’s prototype) made for a nice variety of poses. To make up for that, this guy gets a brand new pair of feet, sans shoes, which are very well sculpted. He’s also got that same cape piece, of which I am still not a huge fan, but it’s less offensive here. The paint is, of course, the main draw of this figure. Now, he could have been just solid white, since that’s how he was depicted in the comics. However, Hasbro decided to do something a bit more visually interesting, so he’s molded in clear plastic, with white painted over top, making him semi-translucent, which looks really cool. In general, this paint works a lot better for this sculpt than that on the Now! Costume. I do sort of wish the black costume lines went all the way around his torso, but he that’s relatively minor.

HULK

UltVision&Hulk3Last up, it’s the required heavy hitter of the set, Hulk. This Hulk, like Ultron before him, appears to be an amalgam of a few recent Hulk designs. Overall, he seems to take the most influence from the Indestructible Hulk book from the Marvel Now! relaunch, though he lacks that look’s armor. The figure is a little over 8 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. The figure gets a new head sculpt, clearly based on the buzz-cut look from Indestructible. It’s a pretty nice sculpt, which is certainly expressive, so that’s cool. From the neck down, the figure is the same as the Age of Ultron version from earlier this year. It’s a decent enough sculpt, and it actually works a bit better for a comic design, than it did a film design. Hulk’s paint work is fairly straightforward, basic greens and purples. It’s not the most exciting look of all time, but it’s pretty solid work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, unsurprisingly, got this set from my local Target. My main interest in getting this set was definitely Vision. He’s definitely a solid figure, and an improvement over the Now! version. Hopefully a proper classic look (or maybe even his 90s look) is on the horizon. Regarding the other two figures in the set, Hulk is a well done space taker, but Ultron is actually a pleasant surprise. He’s the best figure in the set, and probably one of the best Ultron figures ever. Solid work!

#0746: Captain America & Hulk

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

CAPTAIN AMERICA & HULK

MARVEL MINIMATES

CapHulk1

Yesterday, I looked at the first set of the new Walgreens exclusive Marvel Minimates, so why don’t I continue that trend today? The last two sets of animated-style ‘mates were both based on Ultimate Spider-Man. Today, I’ll be looking at the first set based on Avengers Assemble. My relationship with that show is…strained. I loved its predecessor Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, which was canceled in favor of Assemble. That already put me off the show. What put me off more was the show’s first episode, which was…how do I put it? Horrendous. I tried to watch it on three separate occasions, and never could make it all the way through. So, I’ve not really caught the show. But now I have Minimates from it, so whatever. Let’s look at Captain America and the Hulk from that show.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America and the Hulk are part of the first series of Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Minimates. As noted above, both are based on their designs from the currently running Avengers Assemble cartoon, specifically from the first season.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

CapHulk2It’s not the Avengers without Captain America, so…ummm, here he is? Cap’s design on the show is more or less the same as his early Ultimates appearance, which itself is just a minor tweak of the classic Cap design. The figure stands roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has the usual 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-on pieces for his mask and belt, as well as a hand with a plug to attach his shield. The mask first showed up on the First Appearance X-Men, and it’s a good match for Cap’s look on the show. The belt looks familiar, but I can’t see where I’ve seen it before. It’s just a fairly straightforward belt with pouches, and it’s well-sculpted at that. The paintwork on Cap is pretty great. Everything’s clean, and the colors are somewhat muted, but very nicely handled. The detail line work is quite sharp, and effectively balances the animated design with the modern Minimate aesthetic. Cap includes his Mighty Shield TM, an extra head with a more light expression, a hair piece (snagged from Marty McFly), and a clear display stand.

HULK

CapHulk3So, this marks the 32nd time Hulk has made it into Minimate form. For a guy who’s spent 50 years in nothing but a pair of tattered pants, that’s pretty impressive. This one doesn’t really break from the norm, what with wearing nothing but a pair of tattered pants. But this time he’s a darker shade of green. Hey, that’s new and different right? Eh, it’s different enough. He’s got 11 add-on parts. It’s pretty much the same assortment of parts we’ve gotten on most of the Hulks since they started using the bulked up parts for Hulk. They work well, so I can’t really complain. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Hulk’s paint is about on par with Cap’s, though it’s not as colorful. It’s generally pretty clean. There’s a bit of slop at the edges of the pants, but nothing unreasonable. The green could stand to be a little lighter, but it doesn’t clash with the pants or anything. Hulk is packed with an extra, smiling head, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, yeah, I got this set at Walgreens, of all places. Imagine that. I can’t say I was really anxious to get this set, given that I already have these two several times before. But, I was buying the other sets from the series, and this one looked pretty sharp, so I figured why not? It’s a pretty decent little set, so I’m glad I picked it up.